There is a surprise in store for the guests of a drab hotel on the outskirts of Wiesbaden, a quiet spa town in western Germany.
A network of suspected Russian spies is monitoring the lives of Nato staff staying there.
The hotel is perfect for the functional needs of those working at the alliance’s central support base for Ukraine, just a short drive away.
Unwanted visitors to the hotel have raised alarm bells. Nato officials staying at the site reported suspicious individuals who are monitoring the comings and goings of the hotel, and a security alert has been sent to the organisation’s staff staying at the site warning them of the threat.
The warning – issued by UK authorities but shared across Nato – said the German hotel has become a likely target for spying due to the number of international staff based there.
A Nato official said the suspected spies are thought to be working on behalf of the Kremlin.
Wiesbaden is home to the the US army’s Clay Kaserne military base, which houses Nato’s main hub for co-ordinating military support, training and logistics for Ukraine’s defence against Russia.
Nato insiders say the incident comes amid an increase in suspected Russian espionage.
This newspaper recently revealed that suspected Russian spies were entering the UK on cargo ships to monitor key military sites and critical national infrastructure.
Last month, drones were spotted over a French nuclear deterrent base and a Russian submarine was escorted out of UK waters by the Royal Navy. And the new head of MI6, Blaise Metreweli, warned that Moscow was seeking to “subjugate Ukraine and harass Nato” with “tactics that are just below the threshold of war”.
A Nato official said military and diplomatic staff have been told to prepare for “further escalation” and confirmed targeting guests at the site, and at Nato’s key transport and military sites across Europe.
The i Paper has been told that suspected Russian spies are increasingly active around military bases, key ports and hotels used by the alliance.
“We are hyper aware of surveillance,” an official said, adding that Russian intelligence tends to cast the net wide when conducting intelligence-gathering.
This, they said, had led to concerns that accommodation used by Nato staff working at other vital hubs for the alliance’s aid to Ukraine, such as Rzeszów in Poland, would also be targeted by spies.
Another senior Nato maritime official explained that incidents of espionage have increased in recent months as troops and equipment continue to be deployed into Europe.
The ‘most significant’ threat to European security
The maritime official, who spoke on a condition of anonymity, said suspected Russian spies were searching for “weak spots” at key naval ports.
“We had Russian spies driving around…to keep an eye on American reinforcements,” they said. “And make people realise how much material is coming in from the sea.
Another Nato official called Russia the “most significant” threat to European security, describing President Vladimir Putin’s behaviour towards Ukraine and Nato in the past year as “even more reckless”.
“Russia has ramped up its covert campaign against our societies,” the official warned, “we need to be prepared for further escalation and confrontation”.
The Foreign Office said it treats these threats with the “utmost seriousness”.
A FCDO spokesperson said: “The UK, alongside our Nato Allies, remains highly vigilant and resilient in the face of hostile state activities, including surveillance and intelligence-gathering efforts.”
European ports are used for large shipments of vehicles like M1 Abrams tanks, seen here being used by US soldiers in training in Poland, to bolster Nato’s eastern flank. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)German officials have warned that Russia is intensifying its spying and hybrid operations in the country, noting a “significant increase” in suspected cases.
“As a strong supporter of Ukraine, Germany is increasingly becoming the focus of Russian sabotage and espionage. Russia wants to weaken our democracy,” the president of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Munch, told the German newspaper Tagesspiegel in December.
According to a recent report from Germany’s military counter intelligence department, Russian spies are entering the country to recruit people of Russian origin.
‘We had Russian spies driving around’
Putin has long sought to understand how Ukraine is supported by Nato, particularly the scale and routes of Western military aid.
A few months after the invasion began, a ship named Arc Endurance docked at the Danish port of Esbjerg carrying a cargo of US tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, which were headed for a Nato exercise in Poland.
During the military delivery, several foreign vehicles were spotted in the port. Their drivers were seen taking photos and observing the military equipment, according to a report released by the Danish intelligence service in April 2022.
They arrived early in the morning and left Denmark again the same day leading to suspicions they had been driven into the country to monitor the military aid making its way into Europe. The cars were traced back to the Russian embassy in Germany, according to a senior Nato official.
“We had Russian spies driving around,” the official told The i Paper. “We expect they came from Germany to keep an eye on American reinforcements coming in.”
They added: “In this case it was a ship coming in with more than 600 vehicles 64 Apache combat helicopters.”
The official said there would be “an enormous effect on the frontline” if an adversary was able to sabotage these shipments.
Denmark has been a key gateway for US military support making its way to Ukraine, handling large shipments of vehicles like M1 Abrams tanks, M2 Bradley and Stryker fighting vehicles, and helicopters for the US Army in Europe.
Esbjerg Harbor, Denmark is a key site for the delivery of US Army equipment and military vehicles used in exercise activities on Nato’s eastern flank. (Photo: by Bo Amstrup / Ritzau Scanpix)Last year, Danish intelligence investigated a flurry of reported drones over a second key port in Køge, southwest of Copenhagen. Officers reported seeing four drones before they flew back towards the sea.
The incident was one of at least 30 reported drone incidents across 11 European countries since 2024. A Nato source said investigators believe a “foreign state” is behind the drone flights over Køge.
The Ministry of Defence said: “We take the safety and security of our personnel, assets and operations extremely seriously and operate a multi-layered approach to protect our sites.”
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